Table of Contents

-Introduction
-Did you know?
-Monthly Mission – Tidying Up and Thinking Ahead
-Check Out These Pages! – Relevant pages and new site additions
-Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Buy More Clutter

Introduction

Happy Holidays! I hope you’ve all gotten a head start on things and that you’re following your plans for the holidays. I got a little bit of a late start this year having been on vacation. I’m trying to get gifts bought in time to ship them, as indicated below, to my family who live out of state. Eeek! Also, putting up the Christmas decorations unveiled a lot of little clutter that needed to be dealt with. You know, those little things that just get put aside on a table to be dealt with “someday” and get ignored and forgotten? Well, “someday” came for much of that stuff!

The busiest mailing day for cards and packages this year will be December 17th.

The busiest delivery day for letters will be Dec. 19th, and for packages, Dec. 20th.

To make sure you get your cards and packages in the mail soon enough to be delivered on time, here are some “mail by” dates:

• • Dec. 3 Priority Mail International
• • Dec. 10 Priority Mail Military
• • Dec. 11 Express Mail International
• • Dec. 14 Parcel Post
• • Dec. 17 Global Express Guaranteed
• • Dec. 20 First-Class Mail
• • Dec. 21 Priority Mail

The monthly mission for December is mainly to tidy up and make the house presentable and more relaxing. Maybe go through some of those piles of things sitting on the end table you’ve been planning on tackling “someday”. No big projects this month as we have plenty to do as it is. To read more about the monthly mission for December, click here.

Here are some pertinent pages on the website you may have missed along with any new pages.

Checklists Library - Looking for some checklists to help get ready for the holidays, to plan a party or to pack for a family trip? Find what you need here.

Before and After Photos - If you enjoy seeing before and after photos of organizing projects, you can find them all right here.

Living Room Storage Make-over - See how we recently re-organized our living room (play room) with a new Ikea wall unit that's great for storing lots of stuff.

The Family Wall Calendar - How to efficiently use a large family wall calendar to keep track of everyone's appointments and activities.

Home Filing System - Keep all your paperwork in order so you can find what you need at a moments notice, and learn what to keep and what to toss.

Garage Makeover - before and after photos of my personal garage makeover. See how we tackled the problems and ended up with a functional garage.

Streamline Your Morning Routine - Ideas to help you get out the door in the morning and be on time for work or school.

Bathroom Drawer Make Over - How to organize a bathroom drawer, an example with before and after photos.

Stop Clutter - Quick simple tips on how to stop the clutter from coming into your home in the first place.

This is the time of year a lot of people are doing a lot of shopping. And if you’re like many, it’s hard to shop and not want to pick up some bargains for yourself. But regardless of the time of year you’re shopping, we should be asking ourselves some important questions before we make purchases. See, buying what we don’t really need is a major cause of clutter in our homes. So, before we make that next purchase, let’s ask ourselves some important questions. I have found several variations of questions to ask, but here are some I found most important.

• 1. Will this improve my life? Will it save time, money or energy and make my life easier in some way? Will it bring great joy to me?
• 2. Will I miss having this if I don’t buy it? Do I truly need this right now, or can it wait?
• 3. Do I already own something similar? Can it do the job? Am I willing to get rid of the old version of this item?
• 4. Where will I store this new item? Do I have a designated space where this item will go? What will I get rid of to make space for this new item?
• 5. Is this a good deal? Have I taken the time to research if this is a good deal?
• 6. Do I really, really need this?

Go ahead and write these down and slip them inside your purse or wallet so you see them the next time you plan to make a purchase. I can think of many things I bought that I could have done just fine without. Think of the money and space we could save by taking a minute to think before we buy!

Until next time, happy organizing!

Tracy Greene
Plan-and-Organize-Life.com